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Robotics for Editing the Human Genome

Researchers are now starting to understand how a paradigm shift would change what is identified about the cell. However, in many biological processes, IDPs already seem to have their paws. Based on evidence that has been accumulated over the past decade, IDPs help regulate the gas and brake pedals to produce proteins from the DNA code, along with the process by which cells divide. IDPs can also supply signals that enable cells to assume characteristics specific to different tissues or body parts. In other words, somehow they can help turn a blood cell into a blood cell and a muscle cell into a muscle cell. Biologists also find that neurodegenerative disorders, cancers, and other diseases consisting of many disordered proteins.

Advanced Institute of Science and Technology at Tohoku University, Japan, has developed a shape-changing robot made of DNA and protein. They published their findings in the new journal Science Robotics. Living organisms carry out essential functions using sophisticated biomolecules such as DNA and proteins. For instance, by sensing chemical signals and migrating to the target, white blood cells can chase bacteria. Elementary technologies for making different molecular machines, such as sensors, processors, and actuators, are created using biomolecules in the field of chemistry and synthetic biology.

A molecular robot is a system built through the integration of molecular machines and is known as an artificial molecular system. Researchers believe that realizing such a system could lead to a significant breakthrough—a molecularly designed bio-inspired robot. The researchers integrate molecular machines into an artificial cell membrane for the construction of a molecular robot to complete this objective. The research group’s molecular robot is extremely small—approximately one-millionth of a meter—similar in size to human cells. It consists of a protein-composed molecular actuator and a DNA-composed molecular clutch.

CRISPR, a family of DNA sequences found in prokaryotic organism genomes, is a growing field in understanding how bacteria acquire immunity from viruses and how this immunity affects microbe evolution. Several types of CRISPR systems have been identified by scientists, including Type II, which has recently got considerable attention due to its use in gene editing.